Corruption case shines light on NYPD

This undated photo taken from a photo array provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, N.J. shows Kelvin Jones. Once a New York City police officer in an elite undercover unit, Jones was among a gang who brazenly robbed a Newark, N.J. warehouse of $1 million of Prada, Versace and other fragrances in 2010. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney’s Office)
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This undated photo taken from a photo array provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, N.J. shows Kelvin Jones. Once a New York City police officer in an elite undercover unit, Jones was among a gang who brazenly robbed a Newark, N.J. warehouse of $1 million of Prada, Versace and other fragrances in 2010. (AP Photo/U.S. Attorney’s Office)
/ AP

But a rambling journal entry addressing his girlfriend reveals that the duality was difficult for Jones.

"I never told you I was cop," he wrote, "because I was in too DEEP."

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Back in 2003, Kelvin Jones was listed in the media guide for the Southeast Missouri Redhawks as a 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker, a "hard hitter" with "a good nose for the football."

Originally from the island of Grenada, Jones had grown up in Brooklyn, the son of a contractor and a dietitian.

In his last season at the school in Cape Girardeau, Mo., the Redhawks finished with a forgettable 5-7 record. But Jones stuck to his studies and graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

He played professionally in the now-defunct National Indoor Football League, leading the Fayetteville Guard in tackles and interceptions in 2006, according to a league blog, but he quit the team before a playoff game. The reason? To enter the police academy in New York City.

On his NYPD application, Jones listed his criminal justice degree and his gridiron work. And to a question about distinguishing markings on his body, he responded, "I got a tattoo on the right side of my back ... Lord's Prayer on a scroll."

Orozco believes Jones went to work for the Intelligence Division "right out the academy." Jones declined to be interviewed. His family declined comment as well.

NYPD supervisors have at times plucked recruits out of the police academy and given them special training to become undercover investigators. But police officials, citing privacy rules, declined to discuss his employment history.

In court documents, the NYPD confirmed only that Jones had been an Intelligence Division undercover who used aliases. His defense claimed that he also had permission to get a New Jersey driver's license using a fake name.

Two former NYPD officials familiar with Jones told The Associated Press that one of his assignments was to monitor the Nation of Islam - part of the Intelligence Division's effort to monitor groups considered to have extreme political agendas. Since the ex-officials weren't authorized to speak about the case, both spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Jones' journal offered murky clues. He described having "orders from my captain not to let anyone know I was in Las Vegas" - but no clue what for. Another time, he was on the road because "we got a lead from an informant that someone we were investigating would be in the LA area."

Still another trip took him to Miami. At a nightclub there, he wrote, he introduced his girlfriend to a "friend" - actually another undercover on assignment with him. "I didn't pay for my flight to Miami," he said. "It was paid for by the unit."

The girlfriend, he wrote knew him only as Kelvin Johns - not Jones - and the deceit was not his only regret. He worried that someday he was "going to get shot."

Still, he reasoned, "This NYPD career is just a stepping stone for me." He saw it leading to future job in federal law enforcement.